Elizebeth’s story
Born into a military family, Elizebeth had a difficult childhood. When she was a teenager, her mother died by suicide. Her abusive father kicked her out of the house shortly thereafter. She began drinking heavily and using meth. At 20, she gave birth to a son.
Elizebeth was prescribed OxyContin after a series of postnatal operations, which led to her using heroin. She eventually became homeless and was making money through sex work. In 2009, she was arrested, indicted on drug charges and sent to federal prison.
Although she received substance treatment in prison, she began using drugs again after being prescribed post-surgery hydrocodone. Shortly thereafter, she was put on a regimen of Suboxone, which is used to treat opioid dependency.
“That changed my life,” Elizebeth says. “I was able to function, and I was able to feel like a human being again.”
Looking back on the years of her heaviest substance use, Elizebeth says she never would have thought that one day she’d be optimistic about her future.
“You go through your life not really living, because you assume you’re going to be dead soon and you don’t really care,” she says. “Knowing I have worth and a future has been amazing, because I had never really thought I deserved it.”
Since she stopped using drugs, Elizebeth has started her own pet grooming business, where she oversees seven full-time employees. She and her wife have also adopted two children from Daybreak Treatment Center.
“Recovery is such a complicated process,” Elizebeth says. “It’s so important to have an all-encompassing medical team because I can get every bit of care I need. And they know my history. I don’t have to explain it.”
She has been sharing her story because, even as a successful business owner and a devoted mother, she still experiences stigma because of her substance use history.
“You can’t judge somebody by something they did 12 years ago, or 10 years ago, or even a year ago,” she says. “We all have a past. We never know all the pieces to someone’s life.”